So as Florida and the USA battles the current pandemic like the rest of the World there are a lot of people wondering when things will get back to ‘normal’. Of course we will all be grateful to get out of this safe and well, and holidays are not top priority when it comes to life and death, but nonetheless there are a lot of people watching with interest whether Spring and Summer holidays plans will go ahead this year and for special trips planned, for special birthdays, weddings, honeymoons, or just because you’ve been saving so hard and planning for so long people cannot help being disappointed.
Orlando is in lockdown, like we are here, and as we have previously mentioned the theme parks, resorts and surrounding areas are all closed for business. We talked in our blog last week about the amazing work our social media favourites are doing, keeping us informed, keeping us uplifted and giving us our theme park fix. We follow the information daily and some of it brings us great joy and excitement, and makes us smile and some of it not so much. It’s a lot like the whole situation in general, some days we wake up full of beans, and grateful to be safe and well and then other days, maybe due to some news we’ve heard, or a personal piece of information, or generally because we are just struggling with the lockdown situation – it’s like flying high one minute and then plummeting down to earth the next. Some might say it’s a bit like being on an emotional roller coaster. When we’re on an emotional roller coaster there’s a sure fire 100% way to cheer us up – Disney, Universal and water park roller coasters!! Orlando is full of them, and we love them all, from the water coasters, to the themed coasters, to the film related or character related. So rather than worry about things we cannot control, and rather than speculate about what might be, and rather than be on an emotional roller coaster – let’s think about the real roller coasters, the ones that make us smile, laugh, scream – with delight and fear – and think about happier sunnier days when we are all well and all in the Orlando sunshine with tears in our eyes and dribble coming out of the sides of our mouths!
So on to the coasters – we love the indoor rides, the technology based rides, and we cannot wait to ride some of the very newest attractions in Blackspire Outpost, but there’s something quite marvellous about whizzing along a track, twists and turns, wind in your hair, snot flying out of your nose, hair flying wildly in every direction until you look like Medusa. Happy happy days. Here’s some of our favourites.
In no particular order – so please don’t say “X is better than Y” – one of our must do’s is the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket. We remember the first time we walked up to it and stood there, staring at the cars doing the vertical climb, as they toppled over the peak we were hooked! A mad dash to drop the bags off and into the queue. One of the biggest dilemmas on this ride is choosing your ride music track, do you go disco? Funk? Rock? Or even country and western?? OR do you go completely wild and let the ride computer randomly choose for you?? (The 2 times I’ve done this were a mixed bag, once I had No Doubt the second time was a completely random country song that was WAAAYYYYYY to slow for the ride. Never making that mistake again I can tell ya. What do I have? Motley Crue, Kick Start my Heart. Epic!! Tracey always go’s for Evanescence Bring Me To Life. (Cough emo cough). One of the funniest things on this ride is the video play back when you get off it. Pop down the stairs for the pictures and bring up your ride car on the screen and watch in horror at all the faces you are pulling whilst riding and your jowls flapping in the g-force. Not good. But very very funny to watch. If I’m sometimes bored I will pop onto YouTube and watch the rides. The faces some people are making are hilarious. (Look for Alan Carr on it. Best five mins ever).
Staying at Universal another fave is the Hulk. The green meanie. This ride is a very emotional one. It scares the life out a lot of folks just with the noise it makes. It actually growls as it goes by. You see people rooted to the spot, debating if they should ride it…well the answer as always is a big fat yes! First you MUST put all belongings in the lockers provided. You cannot take ANYTHING on this ride, and if you try and be cheeky and not empty your pockets the metal detector at the gate will let them know. This ride was refurbished back in 2016 and its still one of then best out there. As you look up the 150 foot long launch tube you wonder what’s gonna hit you, well you’ll be doing 40mph in 2 seconds from a standing start, and a maximum speed of 67mph and one point. In some parts of this ride you will be hitting 4G’s – so you’ll definitely know you are in a turn when that hits. The initial launch has you in a Cobra Turn right away and that bad boy sets the rest of the ride up nicely. There are a total of 7 inversions on the Hulk and they make their presence felt each time. We have never really queued for this ride, for some reason folks just walk on by?? We love it so much, we once rode it 5 times in a row. Yup. 5 times. When we got off it was a cold drink and a sit on a low wall for 10 minutes. I think the word was “discombobulated”. Whenever we see the ride it makes us grin from ear to ear, and just the noise of it as we are walking round makes the hairs stand up on our arms. If you are in Orlando do yourself a favour and go and say hi to the Hulk. He won’t bite, but you may end up a nice shade of green.
There seems to be an increase in “virtual coasters” in the parks now and one of the best is ‘Escape from Gringotts” the theming of the area is stunning. If you are a die hard Potter fan then this will blow you away. Let’s start with the outside of the ride, the bank is a huge off white building with a rather strange addition on it. A massive Dragon. Yup, thats what I said. When you are walk down Diagon alley and you spy this its a case “oh wow!” Then the Dragon breathes flames. Real flames along the skyline. You can hear the heads snapping round as this happens and the shouts of “bugger!! I missed that! How long till it happens again?”echo down the road. Very very funny. The entrance to the bank is one of those times where you actually just stand there taking in ALL the details. We’ve seen Potter fans nearly crying as it’s so life like (or as life like as a pretend bank can be). The level of detail is amazing, it’s the nearest thing to a film set I will ever be on this is for sure. The “staff” working behind the counters are busy counting and filling ledgers in, sometimes pausing to look at you like the muggle you are and wonder why you are sullying the establishment. This queue is an absolute god-send on a hot day, with the faux marble and high ceilings and A/C its worth the hours wait just to chill out. The ride its self is a mix of 3D and roller coaster track, they have got the balance just right as well – the “virtual’ side of the ride really pulls you in with all the big action set pieces and cast members (no spoilers here). The roller coaster side of it is quite intense and just enough to be a bit nervy for the younger or more timid riders. BUT please remember to remove your hats and glasses on this ride – we’ve known both be lost – forever!! The wait time for this can vary, some days we’ve seen it at 20 minutes and at 120+ minutes. The best times are either very first thing or during lunch, best before you have yours…
The Mummy ride is a coaster too – the first part is super slow as you go into various rooms to set up the story. The effects are great and get you just on the edge enough to anticipate what’s to come. Then you’re off – a roaringly loud coaster, flames, smoke, twists and turns, it’s a great ride. There’s a sneaky fake ending at one point – so good – brilliant theming the the queue is amazing. If there’s not a line of people in front of you, and you go through by yourself, it’s actually quite spooky and too be honest we rush through some of it holding on to one another as there are one or two surprises in there. Fun fun fun! Love the Mummy films and love the ride too. Awesome.
We haven’t mentioned Hagrid’s Motorcycle Adventure as we haven’t been on it yet. It’s Islands of Adventure’s newest coaster and we are super excited to ride it when we next visit. We have seen loads of footage of it and it looks fantastic. Going to be an adventure for sure.
Long ago in Hollywood… well Hollywood Studios that is, you are spoiled for choice here if you want cuteness overload?? Slinky Dog Dash it is then! Just walking around here can give you face ache. The grin that is plastered on your chops is there for the day! Who doesn’t love the bright colours and the the theming? Everything is nailed to the nth degree of detail and if you love looking for Easter Eggs (the film kind, not chocolate) you will be in heaven here. There are so many Pixar/Disney Easter eggs in the queue line and lots of hidden Mickey’s too – good luck spotting them all. The ‘SDD’ IS A ‘child friendly’ coaster, it sits 2×2 in the cars and the best seats are in the rear of the coaster, front is always good, but unfortunately Slinky’s head is in the way of the view for shorter riders (thats us that is). From his not so rapid start to the long gentler curves as you go around the ride, he builds up speed, then you are on the second launch where its all systems go!! A more rapid take off sees you whizzing around at some quite jaunty angles, and the absolute best part of the ride is the ‘bumps’ at the end. This really is a coaster for everyone, nothing frightening at all, it’s a nice starter coaster for the smaller riders to build up confidence and we laugh and laugh as we’re boinging along. A childhood dream come true.
Just around the corner, and still packing them in, coaster is the Aerosmith Rock n Roller coaster. This is another ‘must do’ simply for the fact its the only ride in WDW that has upside down sections. The queue here is another masterclass in how to keep people entertained while they wait. When you walk into the grand entrance of G-force records its like walking into another movie set. Lots of little things to keep you entertained till you enter the famous recording studios. Here we meet the band putting finishing touches to a new track, before they are whisked away to a concert by their manager. She is given the task of finding you a “super stretch’’ limo to go and see them and in concert. This is where the fun begins, the roads are all jammed up, so your “driver” gets you to the gig the fastest way he can, and boy does he take a weird route! With 5 speakers around you playing classic Aerosmith songs and racking up the g-force of between 4 and 5 G’s its quite a ride. We are always amazed how they fit such coasters into such seemingly small buildings. The tight turns really are a shock as its near pitch black apart from some super bright neon signs. It’s one of those “what the hell happened” rides, when you get off and look at your hair…. well worth the normally long queue.
Now onto one of the prettiest parks Animal Kingdom, we love this park as its quite spread out and involves a lot of walking. Even though this is a ‘theme park’ the areas are themed for a different region, the best one by a mile is Asia. This is home to the Expedition Everest ride. At a shade under 200 foot tall this is one of the best looking coasters in the world. It’s a mountain! (Mount Everest obviously)! When you walk up to it you actually feel a bit cooler with the snow and frost along its peaks. (Then you remember you are in Orlando and carry on drinking your own body weight in water. The Disney theming is in full effect here, while you are waiting in line you would actually think that you are in the Himalayas. You can see why Disney send folks all over the world to look at things ready for rides etc, the amount of artefacts and displays in the queue will keep you entertained for hours. It’s one of the most calming queues to be in. Gentle little water features and prayer flags fluttering in the breeze makes this a great antidote to the hustle and bustle of a normal queue. The ride itself looks quite innocuous, a little steam train plodding into the station, you sit down and pull on the smallish lap bar and stow your bag and away it goes. This ride is an hidden gem, the train quickly gains speed and height to scoot you around a few sharp bends then it on the mountain and the lair of the Yeti! (Or locally known as the Disco Yeti, no spoilers again here ). You reach the summit, to plunge backwards down a section of destroyed track narrowly missing the beast! Then round and out and down the outside of the mountain again. If you choose the right spot there are some brilliant photos to be had of the cars coming out and down the mountain. And the screams are pretty loud as well. This ride is very deceptive, its looks quite cute, but packs a punch that belies its size.
In Magic Kingdom you have the mountains, Space, Big Thunder and Splash. We’ll leave out splash because technically that’s a flume ride. Big Thunder is one of the traditional Disney rides and a must do really for all of the family. Some lovely theming and a rickety ratchetty feel to it. It’s not too fast – although if you sit at the back you do get a slightly wilder ride – and there’s lots to see of the old Wild West as you whizz around. There can be quite a hefty queue for this one due it being pretty family friendly so definitely a Fastpass option. It’s a joy really – still fun after all these years and still worth riding but definitely not a scary full on roller coaster. Over to Space Mountain – it has a 1960’s sci-if feel and look about it and again is a must do for us. The ride cars seat you one behind the other in a sort of rocket looking car, and once you get up that first climb away you go – it’s super duper twisty and turny and because it’s in the pitch black and you have no idea where you are going it proper throws you around and clangs you from side to side. As you lean in, because you are going one way round a loop, it suddenly throws you a curve-ball and you go in the opposite direction very quickly. Cue lots of giggling and laughing because you really do have no idea where you are! Finally in the Magic Kingdom is the rather splendid Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. What a delight this ride is. Family friendly but with just enough spills and thrills on the track to make it exciting, it is beautifully themed and the animatronic characters are fantastic! We are sure you’ll be singing hi ho hi ho for the rest of the day (unless you go on It’s a Small World in which case that ear- worm will take over). The final scene when the coaster comes to a slow down is just magical – we definitely won’t spoil that, but for die-hard Disney fans it’s another must do!
So we’ll end on that magical note – as the current world situation feels like it needs a little magic right now. So until we meet again sunny Orlando, stay safe, stay sunny and stay home. We’ll be back to see you soon. Oh and look out for next week’s blog which is going to be a bit of a different one. See you good folks real soon.
theohorlando.blog 